On the Back Cover
The protection of pedestrians is the most important global road safety priority. This is the first book to provide a detailed treatment of the physical processes which occur when pedestrians and cyclists are struck by motorised vehicles.
The principal focus is to show how pedestrian and cyclist pre-impact movements and vehicle design influence subsequent injury outcome. This involves recourse to several academic disciplines: epidemiology, mechanics, and anatomy/physiology. Therefore this book presents pedestrian and cyclist impact from a biomechanical perspective. It features a detailed treatment of the physics of pedestrian and cyclist impact, as well as a review of the accident databases and the relevant injury criteria used in the assessment of pedestrian and cyclist injuries. New data detailing the kinematics of the impact processes are presented, and the relationship between vehicle impact speed and projection distance and the relative importance of ground related injuries compared to vehicle related injuries is assessed in detail. The final focus is on the complex relationship between vehicle design and pedestrian and cyclist injury outcome in the event of a collision.
This book is a one stop source for understanding the mechanics of pedestrian and cyclist impact and is therefore of significant value to both new and established researchers.
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About the Author
DENIS WOOD, an independent writer and geographer based in Raleigh, North Carolina, was a distinguished professor of design at North Carolina State University from 1974 to 1998. His many acclaimed and influential books include "The Power of Maps", which was a History Book Club and a Quality Paperback Book Club selection, "Rethinking the Power of Maps" with John Fels and John Krygier, "Everything Sings: Maps for a Narrative Atlas, Five Billion Years of Global Change: A History of the Land", and the classic, "Home Rules", with Robert Beck.
